Every day, 5000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed; it’s become a fact of life for many of us. My wife and I live a healthy lifestyle. I studied martial arts for 30 years and we were both runners for over 20 years. I still do yoga and hike every day, and my wife and I eat a wholesome, organic diet, much of which we grow ourselves, yet we both got cancer and within a year of each other. It's a mystery how or why this can happen but in a strange way, my cancer forced me to change direction in my art, to develop a new style, and it especially taught me to be more compassionate. The drawings I produced while I was dealing with cancer became the basis for a style of portraiture that strives to personify the subject’s spirit. In a strange way, it was a gift from my cancer and this book details that journey.